WCA May 2012

From the americas

Honda executives have said they hope to sell 180,000 Acuras in the US this year, which would represent a 46 per cent jump from 2011. Honda was hit harder than other auto makers by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011. Its factories in Japan, North America, and elsewhere were forced to stop or slow production for months because of parts shortages, and dealerships across the United States sold out of some popular models. The company was just beginning to recover when severe flooding in Thailand compounded the effects of the shortages. Signs are strong that companies are laying off fewer workers and that hiring is picking up As the American winter retreated, the outlook for the economy was brightening along with the weather. Perhaps most important of all was yet another signal from a steadily improving job market. The Labour Department said on 16 th February that weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000. It was the fourth drop in five weeks and the lowest number of claims since March 2008. In January the economy added a net 243,000 jobs, the most in nine months. And the unemployment rate dropped for the fifth consecutive month, to 8.3 per cent. Over the previous three months the economy had added an average of 201,000 jobs a month. Faster growth is spurring the additional hiring. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2011, a full percentage point higher than in the July-September quarter. In other encouraging mid-February economic news, a rise in building permits suggested that more buyers were feeling courageous, a welcome sign for the construction industry. A survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found continued expansion in factories in the mid-Atlantic states, with steady employment levels and increases in manufacturing activity, new orders, and shipments. Over all, the Philadelphia Fed’s index of manufacturing conditions rose to 10.2 points, up from 7.3 in January. Allaying the concerns of inflation-watchers, data on wholesale prices indicated that inflation remains largely in check. ❖ Demonstrating hair-trigger responsiveness to good news on the jobs front, on 16 th February the Dow Jones industrial average pushed to within 100 points of 13,000. The index has not closed above 13,000 since May 19, 2008. General Motors – which posted a record $7.6 billion profit in 2011, two years after it was almost wiped out – was among the best-performing stocks of the day. The US economy

November in the US said they would be less inclined to use these services if they entail a fee. (“Consumers Want Cloud Storage But Don’t Want to Pay,” 13 th February). Some 66 per cent of the respondents said they feel confident in their awareness and understanding of the concepts of “digital storage” while 61 per cent expressed similar confidence about “cloud storage.” But the London-based professional services firm detected a discrepancy between perceived and actual knowledge. Those who currently engage in file sharing (47 per cent of the 502 people surveyed) would seem to be more secure in their grasp of its benefits than those who do not currently access file-sharing software. Nearly 90 per cent of the survey respondents claimed to be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ interested in the concept of storing and accessing content from a digital library. But Mr Daniels noted that moving from interest into action led in a significant drop-off. Driven primarily by the 50-59 age group, just over half of the survey respondents expressed a willingness to actually use a digital storage library or locker in the future. And in 68 per cent of survey respondents any such willingness would be ‘somewhat’ to ‘very much’ affected by the prospect of a fee for access and maintenance. Honda, whose Accord was the top-selling Japanese car in the US from 1982 through 1996, seeks a return to former glory By any measure Honda Motor Co had a difficult time of it last year, when a series of natural disasters in Asia caused sales to plunge and the company met with a less than enthusiastic American response to its revamped Civic. Writing from Detroit in the New York Times , Nick Bunkley reviewed Honda’s current effort to repair its once-stellar fortunes in the US (“Honda Aims to Reclaim Its Luster,” 8 th February). The initiative ranges from the spiritual – chief executive Takanobu Ito’s New Year’s Day attendance at a Japanese shrine – to the mercantile: notably the commercial shown during the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on 5 th February. In it, comedian Jerry Seinfeld is desperate to get hold of the first Acura NSX (a $100,000-plus Honda concept car not coming to market for several years), while Matthew Broderick, of ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ fame, enjoys a leisurely spin in the Honda 2012 CR-V crossover – a ‘best pick’ in the affordable-compact class for drivers with growing families. The two-pronged approach saw Honda off to a better start this year. The company broke a string of eight consecutive monthly sales declines in the US with an 8.8 per cent increase in January; and company executives have set a goal of a 2 per cent sales increase in 2012, aided by the redesigned CR-V and several new models for the upscale Acura brand. At the Chicago Auto Show, in February, Honda signalled a major push for the Acura, whose sales last year suffered even more than the company’s mainstream brand. Automotive

Dorothy Fabian – Features Editor

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2012